Discover How Elective Courses Work for the Foster Hybrid MBA Program
Beyond the traditional full-time and part-time MBA program options available at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business, there is also the Hybrid MBA program. This unique work-compatible MBA option allows students to complete 95 percent of their program work online with only 5 percent of sessions requiring a visit to the campus. It’s a two-year program that’s ideal for working parents, business travelers, and young professionals.
In a recent Foster blog post, the school broke down how elective courses work as part of the Hybrid MBA. Just like for full-time and part-time students, hybrid students can enhance their academic studies by enrolling in five, unique two-credit elective courses during their second year.
Here’s how it will work. The Hybrid MBA is broken down into four quarters:
- Q1: Autumn, year one
- Q2: Spring, year one
- Q3: Autumn, year two
- Q4: Spring, year two
During quarter one of the Hybrid MBA, all students are required to participate in a preference survey. This survey reveals the areas of knowledge that are most interesting to the class. From there, the program team and faculty work together to determine which course topics and, thus, electives would best fit the Hybrid MBA class. Then, early in their second quarter, students receive a list of all possible electives—broken down by quarter—so that they can begin to plan their coursework for year two.
As for when students start to take their electives and how many electives they can choose between:
- Three courses offered: Students choose one elective during autumn, year two.
- Four courses offered: Students choose two electives during winter, year two.
- Four courses offered: Students choose two electives during spring, year two.
All elective courses are determined based on the interest survey completed by the Hybrid MBA students. Most often, the areas of highest interest include Finance, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Leadership, and Data Analytics. It’s important to note that elective courses are, most likely, only offered once during the second year, so if a student sees an elective they want, they should take it when they have the opportunity.
To learn more about how the Hybrid MBA program works, take a look at this infographic designed by the Foster School.
3 Leadership Lessons from Ivey’s MBA Leadership Day
At Western University Canada’s Ivey Business School, leadership is a regular part of the curriculum. In fact, part of Ivey’s mission is to equip its MBA students to become global leaders. In the context of this mandate, each year the Ian O. Ihnatowycz Institute for Leadership hosts an MBA Leadership Day. This year, the class of 2018 heard from four, senior Canadian leadership in a conference setting. The event also included a panel discussion, a LIVE case, and a keynote presentation.
The Speakers
- Barbara Stymiest: former Executive Vice-President & Chief Financial Officer at BMO Nesbitt Burns, Chief Executive Officer at the TSX Group and current board member of several public companies including Blackberry Ltd., George Weston Limited, and Sun Life Financial Inc.
- Michael Rolland: Chief Investment Officer at OMERS Private Equity
- Jon Hantho: Chairman of the Board at Life Labs, former Chief Executive Officer at Maxxam
- Linda Hasenfratz: Chief Executive Officer at Linamar
Beckie Thain-Blonk, an ’18 MBA candidate at Ivey, was one of the students in attendance at the event. In a recent blog post, she shared her three key leadership takeaways: humility, listening, and selflessness.
Humility
Through the case discussion, attendees learned about how important it is to be endeared to your team. No matter if you have good intentions or not, if you don’t take the time to build relationships up front and listen to your team’s feedback, you’ll lose sight of the real goal.
“Building relationships requires active listening and a healthy dose of humility,” Thain-Blonk noted. “The lesson was very clear: remember that relationship skills and humility are important in both the highs and lows of your career.”
Listening
The second lesson for Thain-Blonk came during the panel discussion when Barbara Stymiest talked about being a manager and earning her first board chair position at Ernst & Young. Drawing on examples from her career, Stymiest told attendees that the first leadership lesson she learned was to “listen first.”
“Stymiest emphasized the importance of a leader speaking last,” Thain-Blonk wrote. “She highlighted that, as a leader, if she spoke first, the room would orient around the direction she initially provided.”
Selflessness
The final lesson was learned throughout the entire event as each speaker agreed that “leaders focus on others.” They categorically stated that an individual only becomes a leader when they stop focusing inward and start focusing on others.
“A leader is not born when they become a CEO or are appointed to lead a team,” Thain-Blonk added. “Instead, a leader is defined by an ‘others orientation,’ and that can start today, regardless of who the individual is or what position they hold.”
D’Amore-McKim Prof Talks Impact of Constant Change in White House
Following the recent and very abrupt exit of Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci, D’Amore-McKim School of Business Assistant Professor and leadership expert Parker Ellen spoke with News@Northeastern writer Molly Callahan about the “constant change on organizational culture” within the White House.
The True Value of a Harvard Business School MBA
Harvard Business School recently published an op-ed from OpenGov Director Ellen DaSilva, who argues that the MBA still holds incredible value for many like her, despite ongoing criticism of the degree program.
2017 Forté Foundation MBA Women’s Leadership Conference
Every year, hundreds of women MBA candidates from around the U.S. gather before their first semester to attend the Forté Foundation MBA Women’s Leadership Conference. This year–the tenth anniversary of the event–the sold-out conference took place in Seattle, Washington on June 16-17.
Sellinger Launches Baltimore Leadership Program For Young Professionals
Loyola University Maryland’s Sellinger School of Business and Management has announced its involvement in a new leadership program for young professionals living and working in the Baltimore metro.
